Today was an eventful uneventful day. We had some doctor stuff to do in the morning, and the plan was to get that done, then drop off our laundry (since we haven’t had enough access to water to use our on-board washing machine), then get groceries, then figure out what we were going to do with the rest of the day.
Everything went according to plan, until we got to the “figure out what to do with the rest of the day” part. We got the groceries, so we won’t starve for at least 5-7 days, and decided to head towards the Dzibilchaltun Maya site where we were told we could camp and see the ruin in the morning. The archeological site is only about 5 miles from the hospital where we were parked last night, so it seemed like a no brainer.
Until, that is, we hit a tope a little too hard, and the truck started to make a disturbing scraping sound.
Fortunately, we were at the town square in the town of Chablekal, so we had plenty of room to pull over so Tom could diagnose and fix the problem - which he did. Turns out the air ride valve lever flipped when we hit the bump too hard, and had to be repositioned, which involved jacking up the truck and removing both back wheels from the passenger side.
Everything went according to plan, until we got to the “figure out what to do with the rest of the day” part. We got the groceries, so we won’t starve for at least 5-7 days, and decided to head towards the Dzibilchaltun Maya site where we were told we could camp and see the ruin in the morning. The archeological site is only about 5 miles from the hospital where we were parked last night, so it seemed like a no brainer.
Until, that is, we hit a tope a little too hard, and the truck started to make a disturbing scraping sound.
Fortunately, we were at the town square in the town of Chablekal, so we had plenty of room to pull over so Tom could diagnose and fix the problem - which he did. Turns out the air ride valve lever flipped when we hit the bump too hard, and had to be repositioned, which involved jacking up the truck and removing both back wheels from the passenger side.
That’s our truck pulled over center right, and if you zoom in you can see Tom working on it. It’s a way better spot to have a problem than on a skinny road with fast traffic.
One thing we learned about traveling in Mexico, even before this trip, is that people are super nice and always willing to help. This young man, Adrian, provided wood to boost the jack, muscle, ideas, and support. And, in the end, he wouldn’t even accept a few pesos for a Coke.
After the truck was fixed, we headed to our original destination, Dzibilchaltun. Adrian told us campers always parked in front of the church, and it was listed on iOverlander. It was easy to get to, and the parking was very easy, and nobody seemed to care.
The parking lot is spacious, and the town is quiet. The only problem is lots of street dogs, so we came up with the strategy of not letting ours out until we’re ready for bed, and we hope the street dogs will forget about them by morning outtie time.
It’s something of a typical Mexican town, where you can see where the Spanish built over and around the Maya.
In the morning we intend to visit the archeological site, which is quite large and walking distance from the town. This photo of the visitors’ center is taken from the camper.
All was quiet until cars with mountain bikes started pulling in. Nobody cared that we were parked in the church lot, until there wasn’t enough room for the cars with mountain bikes. Then, we got a knock on the door and were asked to park tail-end in to the curb rather than along the curb. We complied, and a few more cars carrying mountain bikes were able to fit. Turns out they’re having a 30 kilometre night race through local towns and the jungle, which they do every Monday night. They take different trails through the jungle, leaving around 9:00 and getting back around 11:30. I guess we’re not so weird in the things we do for fun.
